Comments

Is this a silver lining that deeper problem will be addressed, or is this just a start of a spiraling down of once a great swimmer.

Ger
April 18, 2016

So his role as mentor to the Australian team in Rio must now be in question.

gheko
April 18, 2016

You would think so apparently he was blind drunk and pictured asleep in a wheelchair at melbourne airport.

beachmouse
April 18, 2016

I’ll admit to a brief moment of sympathy for Grant because I’m not nearly as tall as he is, and there are still some 757 airplane configurations I’ve been in where my knees embed in the seat in front of me when everyone is in ‘fill upright position’.

Nipple tweaking was definitely out of line though. (And man, that’s a weird sentence to type.)

ThereaLuigi
April 18, 2016

Basically Swimming Australia are saying he is not in his right mind

Brad
April 18, 2016

“We have endeavored throughout our cultural development to be very open in our communication ………”

“The positive week that we witnessed in Adelaide from our team both in and out of the pool is a sign of emerging strong culture…….. ”

“We believe that we have made great progress.”

Why then have they announced swimmers suspected of being involved in foul play on to “our team” ? Para swimmers so of course, low profile swimmers.

Where exactly is the openness in their communication regarding this matter and the exact involvement of SA staff?

Robert Traynor
April 19, 2016

Allowing himself to be falling-down drunk in public will do nothing for his already shaky public profile. That said, much of what the media has reported about the incident is a gross exaggeration of what actually happened. Gary Pert, the CEO of the Collingwood football team, who was sitting near Hackett on the plane, gave his version of the events.

The whole nipple tweaking confuses me and got me thinking:
Wouldn’t it have been much easier for Grant to just slap/whack the back of the head of the passenger?

Ger
April 19, 2016

The nipple tweaking seems not to have happened, according to Gary Pert. The audio interview from the link that Robert posted indicates a big exaggeration from what the media has reported. This included the inference that more than alcohol was involved; trip to the toilet; carrying a bag; extended period of time; emerging aggressive and agitated. What the exact truth is we don’t know. Hackett clearly did himself no favours. The media, it seems, has hyped it up.

Craig Lord
April 19, 2016

Ger – the paper that reported first had the ‘victim’ quoted directly, with the nipple tweak there…. and Hackett’s statement apologised to the man (without any hint of ‘actually it isn’t true’). So I think we should wait to see who hyped what up, if anything 🙂

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